The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) approved Ripple’s RLUSD token for use within the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), making it the third stablecoin to gain regulatory approval under the DIFC’s cryptocurrency regime.

RLUSD’s certification comes after Ripple itself received approval (in March) to offer blockchain payment services within the DIFC, making it the first crypto-focused company to pass such a regulatory hurdle.

These two approvals mean that Ripple can integrate RLUSD into the global payment services it’s offering in Dubai and the UAE, while other DFSA-licensed firms in the area can also include the stablecoin in the solutions they offer their own clients.

Speaking to Decrypt, Ripple’s MD for the Middle East Reece Merrick predicts that, given the UAE’s status as an international trading hub, stablecoins will increasingly be used to settle international payments in real time, reducing friction and costs for local firms.

“Today’s DFSA approval also enables RLUSD to be utilized in digital asset services by other DFSA-licensed firms in the DIFC, playing an important role in driving stablecoin utility in the DIFC’s fast-growing blockchain ecosystem,” he said.

According to Merrick, the DIFC area has experienced year-on-year growth in output and benefits from progressive financial regulations, something which makes it ripe as a breeding ground for stablecoin use.

“We believe there is significant opportunity for RLUSD to bring real value across payments, DeFi and in facilitating real-world asset tokenization,” he affirms.

In terms of Ripple’s long-term plans for RLUSD, Merrick explains that the company is aiming to build “global reach and availability” for the stablecoin.

“Right now it is listed on dozens of top global exchanges and other platforms including Gemini, Kraken, Aave, MoonPay, Independent Reserve, BitMex, Banxa, Bitso, and more,” he says. “RLUSD is available on both the XRP Ledger and Ethereum blockchains, offering flexibility and scalability for a broad range of financial use cases.”

It’s not only in Dubai that RLUSD has received regulatory approval, since the New York Department of Financial Services has issued the stablecoin with a limited purpose trust company charter, subjecting it to New York banking rules.

“[New York is] one of the most rigorous regulatory frameworks in the world, and we will continue to work with regulators, partners and customers to meet the strong demands for a differentiated stablecoin that brings legitimacy, trust and genuine enterprise utility,” adds Merrick.

Ripple launched RLUSD in December, and it has since become the 20th-biggest stablecoin in the market, with CoinGecko giving it a cap of $333.6 million (Tether and USDC have caps of $153.3 billion and $61.4 billion, respectively).

For Merrick and Ripple, its status as an efficient and strongly regulated stablecoin puts it in an ideal position for future growth.

“The stablecoin market is over $250 billion and growing—and what’s going to continue to drive the next wave of adoption is utility,” he says.

Yet Ripple also believes that it will be its own status as one of the biggest firms in crypto that will catalyze RLUSD’s expansion in the coming months and years.

“With more than a decade of experience, Ripple Payments uses digital assets, including stablecoins, to power real-time settlement and efficient on/off ramps at a scale and depth few can match,” Merrick says. “Today, we serve 90+ payout markets covering more than 90% of global FX, with over $70 billion processed to date.”

Such scale has enabled RLUSD to record over $10 billion in trading volume since going live, which according to Merrick reflects “unprecedented” adoption.

By contrast, Tether—still the biggest stablecoin by quite some margin—has recorded $41.7 billion in trading volume in the past 24 hours alone, according to CoinGecko.

Edited by Stacy Elliott.